Everything2
Near Matches
Ignore Exact
Full Text
Everything2

The 48 Laws of Power

created by plonk plonk

(idea) by plonk plonk (5.9 y) (print)   ?   (I like it!) 6 C!s Mon May 29 2000 at 0:48:39

An excellent book written by Robert Greene and designed by Joost Elffers on the nature of power and methods of getting power. I find it more entertaining and useful than Machiavelli. Each law is illustrated with examples from history and literature; even reversals of the law. The book is beautifully laid out in black and red, emphasizing the message of the text. I strongly recommend purchasing it -- it is an unsettling, and possibly very useful read. Practicing the laws involves being a right bastard.

The laws are as follows:

  1. Never Outshine the Master
  2. Never Put Too Much Trust in Friends, Learn How to Use Enemies
  3. Conceal Your Intentions
  4. Always Say Less Than Necessary
  5. So Much Depends On Reputation -- Guard It With Your Life
  6. Court Attention At All Costs
  7. Get Others To Do The Work For You, But Always Take The Credit
  8. Make Other People Come To You -- Use Bait If Necessary
  9. Win Through Your Actions, Never Through An Argument
  10. Infection: Avoid the Unhappy and the Unlucky
  11. Learn to Keep People Dependent on You
  12. Use Selective Honesty and Generosity to Disarm Your Victim
  13. When Asking for Help, Appeal to People's Self-Interest, Never Their Mercy or Gratitude
  14. Pose as a Friend, Work as a Spy
  15. Crush Your Enemy Totally
  16. Use Absence to Increase Respect and Honor
  17. Keep Others in Suspended Terror: Cultivate an Air of Unpredictability
  18. Do Not Build Fortresses to Protect Yourself -- Isolation is Dangerous
  19. Know who you are Dealing With -- Do Not Offend the Wrong Person
  20. Do Not Commit to Anyone
  21. Play a Sucker to Catch a Sucker -- Seem Dumber Than Your Mark
  22. Use the Surrender Tactic -- Turn Weakness Into Power
  23. Concentrate Your Forces
  24. Play the Perfect Courtier
  25. Re-Create Yourself
  26. Keep Your Hands Clean
  27. Play on People's Need to Believe to Create a Cultlike Following
  28. Enter Action with Boldness
  29. Plan All the Way to the End
  30. Make Your Accomplishments Seem Effortless
  31. Control The Options: Get Others to Play With the Cards You Deal
  32. Play to People's Fantasies
  33. Discover Each Man's Thumbscrew
  34. Be Royal In Your Own Fashion: Act Like a King and be Treated Like One
  35. Master the Art of Timing
  36. Disdain Things You Cannot Have: Ignoring Them is the Best Revenge
  37. Create Compelling Spectacles
  38. Think as You Like but Behave Like Others
  39. Stir Up Waters to Catch Fish
  40. Despise the Free Lunch
  41. Avoid Stepping Into a Great Man's Shoes
  42. Strike the Sheperd and the Sheep Will Scatter
  43. Work on the Hearts and Minds of Others
  44. Disarm and Infuriate with the Mirror Effect
  45. Preach the Need for Change, But Never Reform too Much at Once
  46. Never Appear too Perfect
  47. Do Not Go Past the Mark You Aimed For; In Victory, Learn When to Stop
  48. Assume Formlessness

Next

printable version
chaos

Crush Your Enemy Totally ten commandments for c++ programmers The Evil Overlord list do you allow yourself to imagine being with someone?
Machiavelli Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Film Don't assume that just because I'm promiscuous, all I want is sex The most comfortable position to assume after one has been kicked in the junk
The Tesla Coil made me cry, but I got a free lunch out of it. There is no such thing as a free lunch Do not attempt to stop chain with your hands or genitals NON-VIOLENCE! NON-VIOLENCE! NON-VIOLENCE! Non-violence makes you strong! Strength crushes enemies! NON-VIOLENCE!
Tricks girls use to look like they swallow being beaten into an unhealthy state by other people's pasts Mother and I Would Like to Know my piss turned into molten hot, chunky oatmeal
The absence of something does not assume the presence of its opposite Detaching your arm and hurling it at your enemies How to Talk to Anyone Made direct amends to such people wherever possible except when to do so would injure them or others
I always assume innocence What's dumber than a cigarette in your ear? The increase of entropy ain't what it used to be power
Y'know, if you log in, you can write something here, or contact authors directly on the site. Create a New User if you don't already have an account.
  Epicenter
Login
Password

password reminder
register

Everything2 Help


cooled by Dis

Cool Staff Picks
Look at this mess the Death Borg made!
Pipe links and three-dimensionality
monster truck
Vaclav Havel's address to the US Congress, 21 February 1990
Professional wrestling
The Ten Principles of Pythagoras
the Wall of Fame
grammar pet peeves
William Sleator
Reaganomics
How to calculate the day of the week for a given date
Navajo
It gives a clear and present light
Cream
New Writeups
Simulacron3
Reality, Dimensions and the Natural Ontology(essay)
SubSane
Making Love to a 9-Foot Woman(person)
Ouzo
Thoughts(idea)
antigravpussy
I fall silent, listening. The breadcrumbs are talking about us(person)
calgon
Buffalo Bill by the pool(poetry)
gate
Anarchy is Order(idea)
ushdfgakjasgh
Scribeling(thing)
XWiz
Trism(review)
artman2003
Briefcase Full of Souls - Part I(fiction)
Dreamvirus
Alan Ladd(person)
waverider37
Harold Holt(person)
The Debutante
Until death do us part(fiction)
Ysardo
a brother to a sister(personal)
antigravpussy
your warm whispers(personal)
Clarke
Multiculturalism(idea)
This page courtesy of The Everything Development Company